Theme: Spooked: Two government agencies facing off across the great idealogical crossword divide.
As the reveal, diplomatically placed in the center tells us:
23D. Long-running Mad feature suggested by this puzzle's circled letters: SPY VS. SPY
A great theme from David, the circles reveal CIA, appropriately on the West side of the puzzle, and KGB, aptly, on the East.
There's a lot to like about this theme, simple on the surface, but a little more when you dig down. The theme entries are placed pleasingly symmetrically, the letters for the agencies aren't just the first or last letter in the theme entries, they stand alone in each name or phrase, and the placement of the reveal dead center between the two is very neat. Good job.
Let's see what the fill holds for us:
Across:
1. Indian food option: MILD. I lean towards the more hot/spicy dishes, but there are many Indian dishes which are spiced, but not with chili or cayenne, the spices are there for aroma and flavor. Two classic examples are the korma, which is a mild, creamy curry, and the biryani, which is Indian cuisine's one-pot rice dish, a relative of paella, jambalaya and others. Here's my chicken biryani with coconut and yoghurt green raita.
5. "4x2=8" rapper from Korea: PSY. The "Gangnam Style" dude. I'm not sure any of us would be able to name any other Korean rapper.
8. Blood component: PLASMA
14. Et __: and others: ALII
15. Troy, N.Y., school: R.P.I. I tried to guess this, I got the "Institute" part, I could have guessed "Polytechnic", but there was no guessing "Rensselaer".
16. Trojan War hero: AENEAS
17. Delivery method: C-SECTION
19. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, familiarly: COACH K
20. Fall: AUTUMN
21. Boats and gravy boats: VESSELS
22. Stockpiled: AMASSED
24. Tigers, on scoreboards: DET.
25. "Miracle on Ice" winners: Abbr.: U.S.A. One of the most famous moments in sports, and that goes for non-US fans - I remember this from the 1980 Winter Olympics long before I moved to the States and before I knew much at all about hockey. "Do you believe in miracles? YES!"
28. Pours carelessly: SLOPS
29. Start of el año: ENERO
31. Quick bite: NOSH
33. Chef's collection: FRY PANS. I've literally worn out a couple of my Cuisinart skillets, I'm thinking about replacing them with cast iron.
35. Siri device: IPHONE
37. Pointed facial features: VAN DYKES. This dude rocks a great Van Dyke.
41. Morris Buttermaker's "bad news" team: THE BEARS
43. Big name in smooth jazz: KENNY G
44. Spray can output: AEROSOL. I thought the aerosol WAS the can. The output is deodorant, paint, olive oil, you name it.
46. Like some U.S. mail: CERT. ified.
47. African antelope: ELAND
50. Binge: SPREE
52. Montgomery of jazz: WES
53. Part of UCLA: LOS
54. Due: PAYABLE
56. Easy marks: PATSIES
59. __ del Fuego: TIERRA. I met a bartender in New Orleans who was from Tierra del Fuego; she said when she was a kid, her mom would point at the moon and tell her that was the closest place to where they lived.
62. Angular abode: A-FRAME
63. Complex containing thiamine and niacin: VITAMIN B. My Doc told me to take B3 supplements, apparently I'm not getting enough sun, that seems difficult to pull off in Southern California. (Edit - he told me to take D3! - Steve]
65. Close tightly: SEAL UP
66. Half of eleven?: ONE. Nice clue. Double-1 makes 11.
67. Spots at the prom?: ACNE. Sad, but true.
68. Discount phrase: OR LESS
69. Farm sci.: AGR.iculture. Seems hard to imagine studying farming without it.
70. Mower holder: SHED. If you're mowing the grass for silage on the farm, your agriculture class probably tells you the size of shed you need for the mower.
Down:
1. Brit's raincoat: MAC. Have you seen the ad currently running for the Microsoft Surface? It features a real Brit called Mackenzie "Mac" Book who points out the differences between the Surface and the Mac Book. It made me laugh, very clever.
2. Rick's love in "Casablanca": ILSA
3. In __ of: LIEU
4. Decrees: DICTA
5. 1996 Richard Gere/Edward Norton thriller: PRIMAL FEAR
6. Spot buyer: SPONSOR
7. Half a cosmic whole: YIN
8. Walked nervously: PACED
9. Some summer babies: LEOS
10. Santa __: dry winds: ANAS. Fierce debate in my neck of the woods as to whether they are called "Santa Anas" or "Santanas". I'm firmly with the latter. "Santa Ana" is a corruption of the original name perpetrated by out-of-state weather forecasters. In Richard Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast" he references "the devil wind Santana", well known to sailors in these parts. Santa Ana is a small city in Riverside County, and the winds neither originate from there or are funneled through there. OK, got that off my chest!
11. Withdraw formally: SECEDE
12. "Resurrection Symphony" composer: MAHLER
13. Invites for: ASKS TO. Invites for lunch/asks to lunch.
18. Antacid brand: TUMS
21. Italian scooter: VESPA. Here's a young Sting riding a Vespa GS in the Who's "Quadrophenia" movie. Goodness knows what that scooter would be worth now, they're getting very hard to find.
25. Yard, say: UNIT
26. Junior-to-be: SOPH. Shouldn't it be "Jnr." in the clue? Last time I looked, you were properly a sophomore.
27. Tennis immortal: ASHE. Arthur. The stadium in Flushing Meadows, home of the U.S. Open is named for him. The Australian open has the Rod Laver Arena, The French Open has "Stade Roland Garros" and Wimbledon has - Wimbledon. I rather like that. You're pretty much one and done with naming. Imagine the uproar if the French decided to replace Roland with Yannick Noah or Suzanne Lenglen.
29. "The Neverending Story" author: ENDE. A German novel, originally.
30. Acronymically named boy band: 'N SYNC. The last letters of the first names of the band members. Who knew? I think it's just a happy coincidence.
32. White House architect James: HOBAN
34. Rug rat: ANKLE BITER
36. More than want: NEED
38. Had down cold: KNEW
39. Thornfield Hall governess: EYRE
40. Capt.'s subordinates: SGTS.
42. Bouquet for a señorita: ROSAS. Second Spanish class of the day. Roses in January?
45. On the soapbox: ORATING
47. West Texas city: EL PASO. According to TripAdvisor, the best restaurant in El Paso serves Greek and Mediterranean food. Somehow I'm a little unsure about that.
48. Preppy shoe: LOAFER
49. Celestial: ASTRAL
51. Zeno's home: ELEA
54. Coterie members, in slang: PEEPS
55. "Aunt __ Cope Book": ERMA'S
57. Black Friday event: SALE
58. Controversial radio host: IMUS. It's difficult to have any kind of respect for this man, I'll leave it at that.
60. Like chocolate cheesecake: RICH
61. Actress Hathaway: ANNE
63. Intl. news broadcaster: V.O.A. Voice of America. A shadow of its former self. The BBC's World Service is now the largest international broadcaster.
64. Rest area?: BED
That about does it for me. Here's the grid, and it's time for 64D!
Steve
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Dennis, who helped me greatly in the first few years of this blog. Dennis (the Marine) is now fighting another major battle. He'll probably let you know more later. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
As the reveal, diplomatically placed in the center tells us:
23D. Long-running Mad feature suggested by this puzzle's circled letters: SPY VS. SPY
A great theme from David, the circles reveal CIA, appropriately on the West side of the puzzle, and KGB, aptly, on the East.
There's a lot to like about this theme, simple on the surface, but a little more when you dig down. The theme entries are placed pleasingly symmetrically, the letters for the agencies aren't just the first or last letter in the theme entries, they stand alone in each name or phrase, and the placement of the reveal dead center between the two is very neat. Good job.
Let's see what the fill holds for us:
Across:
1. Indian food option: MILD. I lean towards the more hot/spicy dishes, but there are many Indian dishes which are spiced, but not with chili or cayenne, the spices are there for aroma and flavor. Two classic examples are the korma, which is a mild, creamy curry, and the biryani, which is Indian cuisine's one-pot rice dish, a relative of paella, jambalaya and others. Here's my chicken biryani with coconut and yoghurt green raita.
5. "4x2=8" rapper from Korea: PSY. The "Gangnam Style" dude. I'm not sure any of us would be able to name any other Korean rapper.
8. Blood component: PLASMA
14. Et __: and others: ALII
15. Troy, N.Y., school: R.P.I. I tried to guess this, I got the "Institute" part, I could have guessed "Polytechnic", but there was no guessing "Rensselaer".
16. Trojan War hero: AENEAS
17. Delivery method: C-SECTION
19. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, familiarly: COACH K
20. Fall: AUTUMN
21. Boats and gravy boats: VESSELS
22. Stockpiled: AMASSED
24. Tigers, on scoreboards: DET.
25. "Miracle on Ice" winners: Abbr.: U.S.A. One of the most famous moments in sports, and that goes for non-US fans - I remember this from the 1980 Winter Olympics long before I moved to the States and before I knew much at all about hockey. "Do you believe in miracles? YES!"
28. Pours carelessly: SLOPS
29. Start of el año: ENERO
31. Quick bite: NOSH
33. Chef's collection: FRY PANS. I've literally worn out a couple of my Cuisinart skillets, I'm thinking about replacing them with cast iron.
35. Siri device: IPHONE
37. Pointed facial features: VAN DYKES. This dude rocks a great Van Dyke.
41. Morris Buttermaker's "bad news" team: THE BEARS
43. Big name in smooth jazz: KENNY G
44. Spray can output: AEROSOL. I thought the aerosol WAS the can. The output is deodorant, paint, olive oil, you name it.
46. Like some U.S. mail: CERT. ified.
47. African antelope: ELAND
50. Binge: SPREE
52. Montgomery of jazz: WES
53. Part of UCLA: LOS
54. Due: PAYABLE
56. Easy marks: PATSIES
59. __ del Fuego: TIERRA. I met a bartender in New Orleans who was from Tierra del Fuego; she said when she was a kid, her mom would point at the moon and tell her that was the closest place to where they lived.
62. Angular abode: A-FRAME
63. Complex containing thiamine and niacin: VITAMIN B. My Doc told me to take B3 supplements, apparently I'm not getting enough sun, that seems difficult to pull off in Southern California. (Edit - he told me to take D3! - Steve]
65. Close tightly: SEAL UP
66. Half of eleven?: ONE. Nice clue. Double-1 makes 11.
67. Spots at the prom?: ACNE. Sad, but true.
68. Discount phrase: OR LESS
69. Farm sci.: AGR.iculture. Seems hard to imagine studying farming without it.
70. Mower holder: SHED. If you're mowing the grass for silage on the farm, your agriculture class probably tells you the size of shed you need for the mower.
Down:
1. Brit's raincoat: MAC. Have you seen the ad currently running for the Microsoft Surface? It features a real Brit called Mackenzie "Mac" Book who points out the differences between the Surface and the Mac Book. It made me laugh, very clever.
2. Rick's love in "Casablanca": ILSA
3. In __ of: LIEU
4. Decrees: DICTA
5. 1996 Richard Gere/Edward Norton thriller: PRIMAL FEAR
6. Spot buyer: SPONSOR
7. Half a cosmic whole: YIN
8. Walked nervously: PACED
9. Some summer babies: LEOS
10. Santa __: dry winds: ANAS. Fierce debate in my neck of the woods as to whether they are called "Santa Anas" or "Santanas". I'm firmly with the latter. "Santa Ana" is a corruption of the original name perpetrated by out-of-state weather forecasters. In Richard Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast" he references "the devil wind Santana", well known to sailors in these parts. Santa Ana is a small city in Riverside County, and the winds neither originate from there or are funneled through there. OK, got that off my chest!
11. Withdraw formally: SECEDE
12. "Resurrection Symphony" composer: MAHLER
13. Invites for: ASKS TO. Invites for lunch/asks to lunch.
18. Antacid brand: TUMS
21. Italian scooter: VESPA. Here's a young Sting riding a Vespa GS in the Who's "Quadrophenia" movie. Goodness knows what that scooter would be worth now, they're getting very hard to find.
25. Yard, say: UNIT
26. Junior-to-be: SOPH. Shouldn't it be "Jnr." in the clue? Last time I looked, you were properly a sophomore.
27. Tennis immortal: ASHE. Arthur. The stadium in Flushing Meadows, home of the U.S. Open is named for him. The Australian open has the Rod Laver Arena, The French Open has "Stade Roland Garros" and Wimbledon has - Wimbledon. I rather like that. You're pretty much one and done with naming. Imagine the uproar if the French decided to replace Roland with Yannick Noah or Suzanne Lenglen.
29. "The Neverending Story" author: ENDE. A German novel, originally.
30. Acronymically named boy band: 'N SYNC. The last letters of the first names of the band members. Who knew? I think it's just a happy coincidence.
32. White House architect James: HOBAN
34. Rug rat: ANKLE BITER
36. More than want: NEED
38. Had down cold: KNEW
39. Thornfield Hall governess: EYRE
40. Capt.'s subordinates: SGTS.
42. Bouquet for a señorita: ROSAS. Second Spanish class of the day. Roses in January?
45. On the soapbox: ORATING
47. West Texas city: EL PASO. According to TripAdvisor, the best restaurant in El Paso serves Greek and Mediterranean food. Somehow I'm a little unsure about that.
48. Preppy shoe: LOAFER
49. Celestial: ASTRAL
51. Zeno's home: ELEA
54. Coterie members, in slang: PEEPS
55. "Aunt __ Cope Book": ERMA'S
57. Black Friday event: SALE
58. Controversial radio host: IMUS. It's difficult to have any kind of respect for this man, I'll leave it at that.
60. Like chocolate cheesecake: RICH
61. Actress Hathaway: ANNE
63. Intl. news broadcaster: V.O.A. Voice of America. A shadow of its former self. The BBC's World Service is now the largest international broadcaster.
64. Rest area?: BED
That about does it for me. Here's the grid, and it's time for 64D!
Steve
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Dennis, who helped me greatly in the first few years of this blog. Dennis (the Marine) is now fighting another major battle. He'll probably let you know more later. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
48 comments:
Good morning!
Can you believe it? Had the circles, and actually figured out the theme before the reveal. Amazing! Neat that, as Steve pointed out, they're all stand-alone letters in the puzzle answers. Only had a couple of stumbles on my trek to the bottom: ALIA/ALII and ON SALE/OR LESS. Enjoyed it, David, and thanx for the tour, Steve. (Are you sure the doctor recommended B3 and not D3? That's the sunshine vitamin.)
ANKLE BITER: There's a white chihuahua that we see often on our morning march through the 'hood. He strains at his leash, snarling at us. We call him "Ankle Biter."
RPI: CSO to IM and Spitz. Also to my former BIL who's an RPI grad.
Enjoyed your write-up this morning Steve. Thanks. I especially liked the pictures of your kitchen creation and of the mod "Ace Face".
As is the norm these days, parents are indoctrinating their kids to regurgitate things that are important to themselves for all the world to see. Here is an instance where that is done in good fun and for our enjoyment. "Miracle on Ice" speech from the locker room, pregame in Lake Placid, NY, 1980:
Young Herb Brooks USA Hockey
Oh, and you are confused by the above video, then here is some clarification. From the movie documenting the 1980 Olympics USA hockey team, "Miracle", here is the actual clip showing actor Kurt Russell portraying coach Herb Brooks giving his famous speech when he wills the young men from he USA to go skate against the older, bigger, stronger and more experienced men from the Soviet Union:
You were born for this!
FIW, allowing ELbA to force its way in, which made Aunt EmMA'S look fine. I thought it was TIERRA, but thought ELEA couldn't be right. Erased ALIa (hi DO) and csearin for C-SECTION. Have I ever mentioned that I can't spell a lick?
When I first started camping I was getting ready to put a couple of pork chops in a FRY PAN. I pulled out a can of Pam and sprayed it, setting of an alarm in our camper. After airing ut the camper and resetting the alarm, I looked at the can and saw the the propellant was LP gas, and that was what set off the LP gas detector that I didn't know I had.
I wanted "lost" for "like some US mail". When I have a forwarding order placed on the USPS, any tax documents addressed to me are returned to sender marked "moved - unable to forward". I wish we would sell the USPS to Amazon.
FLN, Mark Twain popularized the expression "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." I got my data from Reason magazine. But according to the US Energy Information Agency, our CO2 emissions DID increase by 2.8% last year, still well below 2007 levels, and this year and next are predicted to decline. But the fact remains that the biggest opportunities for improvement are in China and India.
Thanks to David for the fun Thursday tester. And thanks to Steve for the informative review.
Good Morning:
It took me a few minutes after completion to figure out the CIA ~ KGB opponents. I never read Mad Magazine, so Spy vs Spy was unknown, but what a clever idea to develop it into this theme. Other stumbling blocks were: Peras, Aeneas, Hoban, Ende, and Elea. Nice CSO to Spitz @ RPI, as well as moi and DO's former BIL. The Troy, NY clue was immediately followed by the Trojan War, clue, making a neat duo.
Thanks, David, for a nice Thursday workout and thanks, Steve, for the culinary commentary and snippets of interesting facts. Your photo of Viggo Mortensen made my day. He is a very talented (and handsome) actor, IMO.
By sheer happenstance I discovered that my doctor's appointment is tomorrow, not today. Saved by the bell! What a wasted trip that would have been.
Misty, have you seen the latest Suburu commercial? Three yellow Labs, in a Suburu, drive up to "Wanna Wiener" hot dog stand and order a big tray of wieners. Before they can chow down, three Doxies come along and stare at the Labs with a mixture of disdain, disbelief, and disappointment. The chastised Labs forgo the wieners and ride off in their Suburu. Suburu commercials always make me smile and this one makes me think of you and Dusty.
Have a great day.
Enjoyed the theme- especially the symmetry of the VS in SPY VS SPY placed perfectly for
the CIA VS KGB in the circles! Struggled with the simple MILD for the Indian food as I was looking for a particular dish.
Thanks @Al Michaels for the cute video of the 4 yr old giving the Herb Brooks speech.
Thanks Steve and David!
Nice puzzle, on the surface looks simple, but is really very creative.
I was never a big MAD fan, but I had a cousin that was, and he “thinks’ he has boxes of his old magazines stored somewhere up in his attic. The magazine is a classic, guess I was too young to fully get all the satire.
Good morning everyone.
Tough one today. Needed help with KENNY G and ENDE. But it was a good challenge and I got enough of it to make me happy.
RPI - CSO à moi, IM and D-O's BIL. Funny, I just commented on Troy's tides yesterday. Trojan War clue follows it as was previously noted.
Happy Birthday to Dennis. He was a stalwart when I first joined the blog 10 years ago this AUTUMN. He was exceptionally kind when we lost our daughter to cancer in 2013. He suggested a very good read to me by Larry Bond in the 'Jerry Mitchel' series. (I've now read all 6 books in the series,). Thank you my friend.
Have a great day.
I loved Mad. Kind of like training wheels before National Lampoon. I also agree with IM about the great Subaru commercials. Seems like more and more commercials feature dogs, which actually gets me to watch them.
Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange county, not Riverside. Close by, Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, and San Bernardino counties come together. Santa Ana is not small, 330,000 population.
Kerrys_in_Carefree
Way too many proper names to make this fun for me.
After working the left side with the CIA in circles, I filled in GB after COACH-K correctly guessing Putin's old employer. Placing KENNY G close to WES Montgomery; Mr. Poole should be ashamed. Wes Montgomery is about two 'octaves' above the Muzak-type music played by Kenny G.
PSY (or any rapper), ENDE, ROSAS (Cantina for the song EL PASO I know) HOBAN, Aunt ERMA's, PRIMAL FEAR- unknowns filled by perp & WAG.
VESPA- American Pickers can find one for anybody that wants an old scooter.
Never heard of Morris Buttermaker but everybody has heard of the Bad News BEARS.
Musings
-Me too, on Steve’s summative paragraph
-The NCAA basketball’s RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) hasn’t made cwd’s yet
-AUTUMN is here as it was in the 50’s this morning
-The ARLO system I bought and set up yesterday now allows us to monitor 97-yr-old MIL on our iPHONES when we leave her alone
-A SB team I coached won a tournament when the other teams all had full uniforms and we just had t-shirts and shorts. The girls called themselves The Bad News Bears
-On Penny Lane, “The banker never wears a MAC”
-Mike and Frank were so excited when they found this Piaggio (VESPA maker) Ape (Italian for bee).
-ORATIONS today are stump speeches delivered to carefully screened audiences
-IMUS and other shock jocks are not looking for respect, just ratings
-Semper Fi and HBD, Dennis
Clever puzzle. I knew SPY VS SPY from just the S. We were fans of MAD magazine in the 60's. KGB and CIA were easily sussed, but I didn't notice that they are stand alone letters. Impressive! I missed the K in VAN DYKES. I should have done an ABC run.
MILD took a while. I was looking for an ingredient. In college a girl who was the daughter of missionaries grew up in India. She sometimes cooked for us. She use coconut and peanuts as condiments. I like samosas. When we had multicultural potlucks where I taught the Indian moms most often brought sweets. We have a wonderful cultural diversity in North Jersey. I enjoyed my ESL students and gave them extra attention.
Aerosol can be the product or the container.
"-a substance enclosed under pressure and able to be released as a fine spray, typically by means of a propellant gas.
-a container holding an aerosol."
Our National Weather Service calls them Santa Ana winds.
Shock jocks get neither my respect nor my rating.
We have had mornings in the 50's and 60's for quite a while with daytime temps in the 70's and once in a while the 80's. It promises to be a milder than usual October. I am using my garage as a staging area as I thin my closets and shelves. I hope I can finish before we get frosty mornings so I can bring my car inside. I hate to scrape ice.
Musings 2
-Does anyone actually pronounce the second “r” in San Bernardino?
-MAD fueled my lifelong passion for satire, cynicism and irony
-With today’s sensitivities I’m sure MAD would never be able to publish
-My old MAD magazines, baseball cards and Superman comics all found their way to the dump (no landfill then)
-The USPS has only really disappointed me once. It was a big deal but at least it got rectified as best as could be done
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, David and Steve (yes, I will echo d'o in thinking that your doctor wanted Vitamin D not B!)
Our newspaper was a soggy mess (on rainy mornings, it would be prudent to SEAL UP the plastic bag and throw away from the drain!) and I did the CW online.
I required a little P&P to complete. I finally got SPY VS SPY and then saw the CSI and KGB vertically in the circles (but I missed the West/East connection (extra clever).
Starting with Naan before MILD was not a good omen.
I smiled at the multiple CSOs with RPI.
I'm thinking those Mad magazines might be valuable now?
Happy Birthday, Dennis; best wishes for the fight.
Wishing you all a great day.
I just want to remind everyone of the short list of rules for commenting on this blog.
"No politics, no religion and no personal attacks. Please limit your posts to FIVE per day."
These are good sound rules, and I encourage all of us to abide by them - scrupulously.
"No personal attacks" is not limited to your fellow commenters. It applies to everyone, including public persons who might be mentioned in a blog post - and most especially if it someone who you dislike or don't agree with.
Please give this matter some thought, and make a serious effort to comply with the rules.
Play nice and we'll all get along.
Cool regards!
JzB
My biggest problem in this fun puzzle was VANDYKES, which turned out to be critical for solving the theme. It's a very tangential facial feature...
Great work, Mr. Poole!
Hola!
Happy birthday to my favorite Marine, Dennis!! I hope for good news from you.
Many thanks to David Poole for a particularly clever puzzle! I never read Mad Magazine but I saw the center SPYVSSPY then discovered CIA and KGB at the ends. The east/west connection escaped me.
Just yesterday I saw AENEAS in a puzzle so it was easy to recall and during the parts of Country Music that I saw, Marty Robbins was featured so ELPASO also emerged quickly.
As for VANDYKES I dislike any kind of facial hair on men and don't understand the current fad. They are so much more handsome without them.
Zeno of ELEA is a CWD staple and RPI is close to being one. I noted the CSOs.
Learning moment about NSYNC.
I wonder if Tony will ride a VESPA in Italy.
Time to go have my brakes checked. I heard a squeak yesterday and next week I will drive to my sister's in Highland.
Have an awesome day, everyone!
Steve, thank you for a delicious review. Your comments about food always make me want to discover new dishes.
Tough one from David today. No circles, so I didn't get the theme. Took over 40 minutes with Red Letters on to finally get it done. Steve's tour through was great in 'splaining the grid.
A few hiccups: LSU vs DET for the Tigers, I'm not into RAP so I never heard of PSY. I wanted ACHILLES instead of AENEAS, but it didn't fit. I didn't know HOBAN was the White House architect. Perps fixed my errors.
I knew THE BEARS, because I have a friend, Dave Pollock, who played Rudi Stein in the original movies.
HG: The ARLO cameras are a neat system. I have them around my house and can check on things when I'm away on my IPhone and IPad. My son has them also and sets up a camera to watch his cats while he is away. I have a few of them on suction cup mounts so they are easy to set up where I want them temporarily. The PRO model is nice because it has two-way audio capability, even though there is a little time lag because of the internet. ARLO only stores the videos on their server for 7 days, so if there is something you want to keep, you need to download it to your phone.
I hope everyone has a great day.
Steve, great write-up as always. Loved my MAD magazine as a teenager. Still remember a cartoon where the lady asks the fishmonger, "Are these fish fresh?" He replies "No, Ma'am they're very well mannered".
Just have to say that Santa Ana is the county seat of ORANGE county, with a population of around 400,000. It' not really small, nor is it part of Riverside county, where I reside. Thanks
Well, this was a Thursday toughie for me, but a delightful one--many thanks, David. I actually had a good start in the northeast when I got AENEAS and PACED and ASKS TO and that gave me PLASMA and MAHLER. Never heard of the Duke, but it was fun to get COACH K. Kept doubting VESPA, but it worked and helped with the middle. Had to laugh when ACNE turned out to be the spots at the prom. Happily my prom pictures in the high school year book show no acne on either of us. Steve, thanks for explaining the theme--would not have figured it out without you.
Irish Miss, thank you for alerting me to the Subaru ad. I haven't seen it and it sounds delightful. And, guess what? I drive a 2009 Subaru and have a dachshund!
Lucina, my late husband was a handsome 6ft.2 fellow with gray hair and a gray beard when I met him. He'd worn that beard for all of his adult life and I loved the way he looked. After his stroke, I came to the hospital one morning and saw a guy in a hospital uniform picking up a razor and I screamed "No!" I got there just in time. It would have made my sorrow even worse if he'd lost his appearance. Thankfully Rowland then had his great beard for the next seven years until the very end. Sorry for the story--but your comment made me think of it.
Have a great day, everybody.
Subaru ad Link text
//www.google.com/search?q=subaru+dachshund+commercial&oq=suburu+dach&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.8665j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
YR:
Thank you for the link. I rarely watch daytime TV so had not seen that.
Misty:
That is a beautiful story and I am sure your late husband wore his beard well. Beards are, after all, a matter of personal taste and these days they are quite popular. I just happen to not care for them especially the really bushy ones.
From yesterday...
Picard, you (and everyone else) probably didn’t notice, but I stopped posting (last week) for the same reason you did.
Reason? Well, it seems rules here are only for those who choose to obey them. For violators, there is no sanction.
And really, it’s the same violators over and over and over again. I guess if you’ve been here for awhile you are part of the inner circle and are immune from both the rules and any penalty. Nice.
Fair, not so much.
But a good ay to drive away those who REALLY just come here for crosswords and NOT to vent their bile.
Oh, and the reason the little girl sailed over here on a small boat....this is where the U.N. is.
Duh.
Yellowrocks, thank you so much for giving me a link to the Subaru dachshund commercials! I can't believe all those funny versions of those sweet Subaru driving dogs.
Lucina, you're right--some beards look better than others.
Sorry I didn't get any l'icks written up. My roomie here complained about the light being on, so I shut down early and then slept late. I will compensate by sharing a poem I wrote yesterday. Currently the plan is to turn me out of this nursing facility this coming Monday or Tuesday.
Misty, I've worn a beard nearly all my adult life. That's me on my avatar, maybe 20 years ago when I had more hair and looked like Brigham Young. But a couple days ago they offered to give me a shave here, and I took them up on it. I'm now clean shaven. But I haven't told my wife, so she'll get a shock next time she sees me! She's urged me in the past to get rid of it, but all I've done was shave it down to a van dyke, so the shock will be a pleasant one.
P. T. 's
by Owen Laurion, 9/25/19.
My Physical Therapist, I'd praise her to the skies,
Except I know she's really a demon in disguise!
She makes me sit up, when I'd really rather lie.
She makes me stand and walk, I'd rather sit and die!
I do appreciate her grasp of human history.
The Spanish Inquisition, witch trials' tender mercy.
She will not let up, she mocks my distress.
She only will relent to my ernest-most request!
Yes, she's a demon -- and an angel, rolled in one.
She made me to get better! I hope she had her fun!
Owen Laurion, 9/25/19.
Dennis, happy birthday and best wishes in general!
For me, today's was a toughie.
Picard (from yesterday) and others: LIKE. Please stay in touch.
There are many of us who are endeared to most of the bloggers and their comments but who have quit commenting because of some who feel they have a badge and baggage of opinions that must prevail. No respect for others.
Thanks to JzB for the Greta photo. I think she is right but my opinion doesn't really matter. She is raising awareness.
It may be about time to reorganize and make some new rules. Nice offering yesterday, CC. Steve, I always enjoy your write-ups and travel information.
Best to all, especially the positive contributors.
It's good to see all the resurfacing posters are adhering to the rules that Jazz posted. Ironic that this all starter with Jazz posting a picture of a politically polarizing figure. I imagine merely posting a picture of Trump would bring similar cries for his opponents.
HBD Dennis!
Neat pzl and theme. Imagine - two government agencies in conflict! How can that be?
Misty ~ Happy you were able to save Rowland's beard! I favor beards myself, although some are too scraggly and others may exceed the limits of reasonable (responsible?) growth.
I have worn a beard since I was able to grow one at age 19. Beards are natural in the mature male. I remember vividly the first time my newly-haired chin was hit by a rain shower. The rivulets got caught in my beard, and I felt like a biblical patriarch.
Back in the '60s, when long haired guys led hairless bigots to joke, "Ya can't tell the boys from the gals," my answer was, "Are you blind? Just check the beards."
As a sometimes actor, I would shave as necessary for a role, but I'd grow it back as soon as possible.
Since I retired there's no need to shave any more. Happily, my wife keeps it in good trim.
~ OMK
FIR in too many min.
Good morning/afternoon Cornerites.
Thank you David Poole for this crunchy Thursday CW.
Thank you Steve for your excellent review.
Ðave
Yellowrocks 12:51, Thanks for posting that cute commercial, made my day.
OMK, good point. There is a big difference between having a beard and not shaving. I used to have a fu manchu stash that I trimmed a couple of inches below my chin. Took a lot of time to maintain.
When I was fitted for my first pair of contacts, I decided to become clean shaven and also to cut my below-the-shoulders hair to an above-the-ear business cut. I went into work, and a coworker asked "may I help you?" I said nothing and went about getting ready to start my shift. She got pushier, and I laughed and "introduced" myself. Her response: "Boy, did YOU f[oul] up!" My mom loved it however.
Oops. B3/D3 confusion. I've edited the blog, of course Doc told me to take D3.
@Anon 9:04 & @Socal Native - thanks for the correction. Santa Ana couldn't be more in Orange County if it tried.
@HG - "American Pickers" is must-watch TV for me, and the native San Bernardinans (?) make life simple for themselves and call it "San Berdoo" or just "Berdoo".
Over and out.
Great that you enjoy your beard, Ol'Man Keith!
And Owen, I hope your wife will love your new look!
I enjoyed this puzzle and the well-constructed theme. Without any perps at first I wasn't sure whether the east side spy agency would be KGB or GRU. I am very impressed that all six letters are "stand alone" letters in the crosses.
At first I wanted MENDELSOHN instead of MAHLER even though it is too long; then I remembered Mendelsohn's Symphony number 5 was subtitled the "Reformation" and MAHLER came to mind.
Keith, I gotta say I like your beard and the distinguishable moustache. All well sculpted.
Steve, I like your comments and agree with your observation about SOPH.
Our story about frustration with the USPS: A product that my wife ordered on line was correctly addressed and shipped to us by the vendor but we didn't receive it. Instead, we got a small, postcard-sized form from the USPS saying they had attempted to deliver the package but that it was "undeliverable" because there was no house number in the address, just the street name. Of course, the first thing my wife and I thought was how the heck they knew to deliver that notice to exactly OUR house if they supposedly didn't know which house on our street to deliver the package to. So, following their instructions, we called the local USPS branch and requested they try again; we even told the guy our house number. Same postcard claiming inability to deliver the package. So we called them again and spoke to a "supervisor" who said he would hunt for it in their back room and call us back. Within 20 minutes he did actually call us back and told us he found it and we could come pick it up. So we did. A quick look at the shipping label on the package revealed that our full address, including the house number, was clearly printed on the label. It turns out the reason they couldn't deliver it was that the bar code omitted the house number and the delivery drivers are constrained to deliver ONLY to the bar code that they scan; they are apparently not allowed to actually read the label. The reason that the guy was able to deliver the unable-to-deliver notice to us was that he sorta disobeyed the rules, read the label, and therefore knew the package was for us. So he could deliver the postcard but he couldn't simply deliver us the package. I can't imagine the USPS saved any money on that deal.
Happy birthday, Dennis, and good wishes to you all.
P.S. I suppose I could have (should have?) split this posting into two or more postings, due to its length, but sheesh.
Good afternoon, gang, and thanks for the well-wishes.
What C.C. was alluding to is that after 75 years of hospital-free great health, my aortic valve has given up the ghost. I am absolutely asymptomatic, but my cardio guy (and a second opinion) both concur that I need open-heart surgery sooner rather than later. We'll be locking in a date tomorrow for surgery early October. In the meantime, I'm on 'light duty' with no exertion, no driving, etc.
I'm looking at all this as just another new experience, and after the month or two recovery, I should be good to go for another 25 or so. I'm hoping they can also reset the odometer.
Thanks again for the good wishes.
Great theme! I loved MAD mag so that was a bonus.
Steve thanks for the walk through.
Owen, I really do appreciate your poetical offering. I am fighting a PT also and I agree they are diabolical. But I can’t say it in poetry!!
Anon PVX, I'm with ya! I drop our at the first hint of controversy.
Gary, some of us don't pronounce R's, period. Except where there's an L. So, Arnold Palmer is Ahnuld Pah-ma.
I have to concentrate when I order the iced tea drink of that name to be understood.
"After his stroke, I came to the hospital one morning and saw a guy in a hospital uniform picking up a razor…"
Shades of Owen's J saga-check out his jugular Gremlins. Ok, here it is today's J-write-up
This was a test for me and in my haste misspelled AENEuS. And, I knew MAHLER. I didn't notice the theme but I remembered SPY VS SPY. Having CS to start "Delivery method" threw me but I caught on. When the last box was inked I had some satisfaction.
WC
Everybody, I have changed my email address. Please refer to my profile for the new address. My old address will still be active and useable for an undetermined time. But my new address should be used, starting immediately. Please remove all my previous addresses from your contact info about me. Thank you.
The reason is that we will likely be dumping AT&T because of their abysmal performance. My new email is ISP independent so should be valid no matter which ISP we use in the future.
Cheers.
Well. What a combination of really difficult and really easy! My thanks to both David and Steve for jobs well done.
By the numbers:
1A-Even mild Indian food is WAY too spicy for me!
30A-It’s a poor day when you don’t learn something. I learned how ‘N SYNC got their name.
37A-I struggled with this for way too long; I was looking for a feature such as a nose. I finally realized that it could include facial hair... and I have had a beard since the early 1970’s! My wife has never seen me without it.
44A-I’ve always assumed that the aerosol was the mixture of the propellant and the contents you are spraying, not the can that contains them.
66A-I had to come here to see why ONE is half of eleven. Thanks, Steve.
40D-This one didn’t feel right to me. Maybe I assumed too much but to me the Captain’s subordinate is the Lieutenant and the Lieutenant’s subordinate is the Sergeant.
47D-Cue Marty Robbins. “Out in the west Texas town of EL PASO, I fell in love with a Mexican girl.” Etc, etc.
Stick a fork in me—I’m done. Have a good evening, all.
Jayce ~ Glad to hear you are getting free of AT&T. We wised up to them years ago. But it isn't easy making the decision to change servers, so congratulations on making the jump!
W.C. ~ There are some people who simply can't pronounce Rs. For them it's not a choice, but when their young mouths were forming their early words they never learned how to place their cheeks and tongue just so, nor when to resonate and how much voice to give it.
The British actor, Maurice Evans, played Shakespeare w/o any Rs. He pronounced his own name, "MAW-iss."
~ OMK
Lucina @ 11:25 ....
In baseball this year, the Yankees (I know: get the feelings out via Boo! Hiss!) require the team to shave. I contrast this with certain other teams, whose members look like the 14th Alabama, CSA, in the early months of 1865.
It's all the fad now, but even the Qin Emperor's troops could shave if they wanted to, and that's 2200 years ago. And not to mention the Minoans, who are another millennium before, so shaving is not a novelty..
Dennis:
Thank you for posting and sharing your health issues with us. My prayers will be with you for a successful operation followed by successful and rapid healing. You have always lived such a full and energetic life I'm not surprised your heart is complaining! Good luck to you, dear friend.
Michael:
With the availability of today's highly engineered razors it amazes me that more men don't shave though I understand and respect that it is a choice. Many groups seem to require beards (orthodox Jews and some Moslems, e.g.) which makes it a religious obligation. Personally I prefer to caress a clean shaven man.
Husker G @ 10:04 --
No, that 'r' in San Bernardino usually gets elided to 'San BernAdino', or sometimes just to "San Berdoo'. This seems to be part of a general process in modern American English to try to mush words down to just two syllables, or maybe three, in length. Look at, say, "cholecystectomy" or "antidisestablishmentarianism" and you will see what people are trying to avoid.
Good Friday morning, folks. Thank you, David Poole, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for fine review.
Got this done late last night after my Lodge meeting and went to bed. So, here I am on Friday.
Liked the puzzle. A little tough. Theme was very clever. Got the SPY VS SPY term with some perps to help. I had to write down the circles and then it added up.
C SECTION appeared after MAC, ILSA, LIEU, DICTA, and TUMS. I should have known that because that is how our daughter was born. And, they made me stay in the room while all that happened. Not sure why. Took place at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. The birth was at midnight on the nose so they asked me to pick the date. I did that. I picked the next day. That's my story and I am sticking to it.
And, I am going to sign off for now. See you tomorrow (Saturday).
Abejo
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